MPC – YouTube Answers – Workflow
——————————————————————————
One on One Skype lessons now available
Send me an email to set up a one on one Skype lesson. My email address is fiercemule@gmail.com
——————————————————————————
MPC – YouTube Answers
I am very grateful for all the comments and subscriptions on my YouTube channel. I think the best way to say thank you is with some follow-up MPC videos. One thing that stands out in the comments and questions about MPC is: how do the different environments work? I think understanding what each playback situation offers allows the musician to make appropriate choices when producing a track.
The way I explain how to use the different options available is by taking an MPC stock sound set and building a beat from scratch. This then allows me to take that sequence and spit it out as an audio file. You can either bounce down a full sequence or do it track by track. Once you have the audio file you can do a bunch of different things with it.
Clip mode
If you import it into clip mode you can create an arrangement of loops where you can quickly jog different remixes of the same parts. The clip mode locks into the BPM of the track without having to hit ‘Warp’, creating an instant approach to a quick remix. You also set a playback quantize with each track, so that the different sections of a song will all play back in time with each other regardless of when you hit the pad.
Audio Track
When you import the audio file into an audio track you can quickly use the provided tools to chop, pitch change, time stretch and really any other tool you would find in a regular DAW.
Program playback
You could also load the audio file into a program. This allows you to easily trigger the pad off the grid and play back with more of a pad mashers approach. With the current firmware you can also warp the audio in a program, giving your performance BPM flexibility.
In this video I show how to jog around a beat that is built from scratch. Going through this exercise on your own will help you become more comfortable with the different options within your MPC. This video applies to the MPC X the MPC Live, the MPC touch, and the MPC studio running 2.0.
Doing these videos has been very rewarding. By receiving other people’s questions about the MPC I have been able to rethink how I make music with it and how I can use the tools of the MPC to become a more efficient and better musician and producer. I will be releasing a series of these response videos – your input into them is very appreciated.
Also, you might notice that the format of this video series has changed a bit. Dan is taking a break right now, so all the shooting and editing has been done by myself, with my friend Tyler Cook running all the sound. I am very lucky to have the help of my friends for producing this content. Big shout out goes to Nancy Wallace who edits these articles and to Dave Fox who advises me on all things web hosting and SEO.
If you want to get in touch with me directly please send an email to fiercemule@gmail.com. I am also available for One on One Skype tutorials.